Within The Reach Of Thanatos
by Ironhydra
Summary: Now back in Iron's hands. Naruto is assaulted by a mob of villagers at the age of seven, but is saved. Problem is, his saviour isn't human. Chapter 3 up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my (Iron) second solo project. Basically, Naruto finds himself the leader of an extragalatic race that consumes anything in it's path.

Mostly inspired by _The Zerg Swarm _by East Bridge.

Disclaimer:

The Tyranid race belongs to Games Workshop.

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

* * *

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The villagers were right on his heels, screaming insults and curses at him, accusing him of things he never did. Tears streamed down his face. He didn't notice a rock that was conveniently set in his path. He tripped. The villagers now surrounded him from all sides. "We've caught you now, demon!" the leader shouted triumpantly, raising his axe. The crowd around him roared in anticipation. "DIE!" He brought the axe down to tear his head from his shoulders. But the blow that little 7 year old Naruto thought would end his life never happened. Instead, blood splattered across Naruto's vision. Afraid, he wiped off the offending life-fluid from his eyes and looked at his saviour. The problem was, his saviour _wasn't human. _It was easily 7 feet tall. The creature had four arms, two of which were massive, curved talons, while the other two held a strange weapon of some kind. On it's back, a black, chinitous carapace ran up all the way to the top of it's head. It's legs were digitigrade, with strong muscles to support it's weight . The carapace also covered the legs. It's skin coloration was grey, bordering on black. In short, it was a creature of the darkest nightmare.

* * *

The villagers were afraid. This...monstrosity had leaped from nowhere and killed Kyoden! All of them wanted to run. But they couldn't, as the creature's gaze turned towards them. It shifted it's body to face them. Not able to take it anymore, a man charged the beast. The thing raised it's strange weapon and fired. For his troubles, the man was turned into a pile of green goo. Horrified at how the man was killed, the villagers dropped their weapons, turned tail and ran. Soon, the creature's attention was focused on him. Naruto felt his body lock up. The creature slowly advanced towards him. He wanted to scream for help, but his voice had left him. Right there, an epiphany struck him. He was going to die. He was going to die without having reached the seat of Hokage, without having told Teuchi and Ayame-nee how good their ramen really was, wihout having told Sakura-chan that he loved her- The beast stopped a few feet away from him. Naruto was surprised. He thought the creature would eat him or kill him. Suddenly, a voice pierced his mind.

_"Are you alright, Hive Mind?"_

"Eh?"

_'What was that?'_

_"It was me, Hive Mind."_

Confused, Naruto thought back:

_"Who?"_

_"The creature in front of you."_

_"WHAT?!"_

* * *

Within the depths of the Forest of Death, underground, a massive being awoke._  
_

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: More chapters?

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

_"Telephatic Thinking"_

* * *

The being looked around it's lair. Recently, it had sent out a brood of Hormagaunts to gather biomass to help sustain the hive. Unfortunately, that would then mean that the biomass reserves would be full, and it could not operate without the jurisdiction of the Hive Mind. Fortunately, it had sent out a single Warrior to bring back the Hive Mind. That meant that the hive would grow under it's control. A message suddenly came from the Warrior he had sent out. They were on their way. The being felt something-excitement. Soon, under the Hive Mind's control, the hive would have the stars in their grasp.

* * *

Naruto clung onto the top of the Warrior, which was leaping on the rooftops of Konoha. Since it's main colour was black, it blended in perfectly with the night. Only 10 minutes ago, he was prepared to embrace death. Then the Warrior, as it had introduced itself, had _spoken through telepathy _to tell him something important was happening, and that he was part of it. So he had tightly wrapped himself around the Warrior's body, and it _leapt _to the nearest rooftop. And so this is where Naruto found himself. A weird tingling at the back of his head alerted him to the Warrior speaking.

_"What is it?"_

_"We are nearing our destination, Hive Mind."_

_"Where is it, Warrior?" _

_"I believe it is the place that the humans call the Forest of Death."_

Naruto instantly paled. The Forest of Death was infamous, even among civilians. Filled with exotic and extremely dangerous creatures, just the place where this...Hive Tyrant that the Warrior mentioned would make it's home. He forcefully buried his fear. Question swirled within his mind, like what were Warriors? What was a Hive Tyrant? Questions like these bounded around Naruto's head. He didn't notice that they had entered the Forest of Death. The howling of different creatures brought Naruto out of his reverie. He became afraid. What would happen if he got eaten? He didn't want to die...

_"Do not be afraid, Hive Mind, for I will protect you."_

Naruto felt all the fear dissipate. He was safe. He wasn't afraid.

* * *

The Hive Tyrant felt the presence of the Warrior come nearer. Using it's synaptic power, it recalled the Hormagaunt brood and contacted the rest of the Warrior's brood. Within a few minutes, all the Tyranids were gathered in the main chamber, awaiting the arrival of their Hive Mind.

* * *

The duo finally reached their destination (after a lengthy period of maneuvering through tunnels). When they did, they were met by a...welcoming party of sorts. Naruto was shocked. There were at least 30 of these...small creatures that seemed to have taken an instant liking to him. They snuggled up to his feet, jumping over their comrades. Standing far away, were two other creatures that resembled the Warrior he just dismounted. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. Naruto slowly turned around, and saw a horrific...thing shaped from the very worst of nightmares.

_"You have returned to us, Hive Mind."_

Naruto fainted.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N: ...Don't kill me. Please?

* * *

Within it's iron cage, shaped by the seal, the Khornate daemon known as Shulhamegt thrashed around, howling. The Shadow was near! It could feel it! Pain coursed throughout it's body. It's strength was being sapped away, slowly. "Curse you, Namikaze! I curse your name!" he roared. Out of the corner of it's eye, it saw the shadows outside start to warp and twist. Shulhamegt's eyes widened. "I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!" Using his body mass, he rammed the cage. But the iron bars, shaped by a human sacrifice, did not bend to his will. The shadows formed into a horrible creature, shaped from it's very nightmares: the Hive Mind. Shulhamegt screamed as the shadows struck, billions of tendrils lashing out, ready to devour his very soul...

* * *

'Please let it be a dream, please let it be a dream...' Naruto was afraid to even open his eyes.

_'It is not a dream, Hive Mind.' _the psychic voice replied.

Naruto opened his eyes, coming face to face with the creature and whimpered. 'Why? Why am I the leader of a bunch of...things?'

_'We are not things, Hive Mind. We are the Tyranids, an extragalactic race.'_

'Tyranids?'

_'Yes. We were originally created as a slave race. We were used to harvest food and hunt for our masters. We were killed for sport in giant gladiator arenas.' _it replied, hatred coating every word.

_'The cycle continued for three and a half centuries...until one of us gained sentience. He became the ruler of our race, the first Hive Mind. Under his guidance, we killed our masters, eventually taking control of their galaxy spanning empire. But all good things all have to come to an end...' _Every single Tyranid in the chamber sank, obviously depressed.

'What happened?' Naruto asked, his voice low.

_'The remnants of the empire launched a counterattack. They laid siege to our homeworld. We fought. For a hundred days, the battle was waged. They had more advanced technology, but we had more numbers. But the enemy fired a bomb on our leader's lair.' _

_'We managed to drive the Empire to extinction. And as our leader lay dying, he gave a fraction of his powers to individuals within the Tyranid hierarchy, with a last command: become the perfect lifeforms. The individuals in question were humans, just like you.'_

'They were? But how did they manage to reach another galaxy? We don't even have jutsu like that-'

_'The human's minds and capacity to learn led them there. So we listened, and obeyed. The Hive Minds created their own expeditionary fleets and invasion force hybrids, called Hive Fleets. There are a total of 24 Hive Fleets, but many of them were destroyed. The Hive Fleets with the most power are Leviathan, Behemoth and Kraken.'_

'So I'm a Hive Mind? No way!'

_'Whenever a Hive Mind dies, their powers are passed on to the next person with the most compatibility to the power. You are one of said individuals.'_

'Then I'm your leader?'

_'Yes.'_

'I-I don't know what I should do. After all, I've just been introduced to a whole new species...' Naruto chuckled. He didn't know how he could handle this.

'What are you, then?'

_'I am the commander of your Hive Fleet's forces, Hive Mind. I am the Hive Tyrant.'_

'Then what are the one snuggling against me?'

_'They are Hormagaunts, the basic troop for our army.'_

The conversation would last a while, for young Naruto would learn all that there is to the Tyranid race. As the sun rises, and the day begins, a new era has begun.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the long update. I had to read up on the fluff for the Tyranids. This chapter was just an explanation chapter. Next chapter: the Genin exam.

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